Jeanette,

Regarding the stay or go situation, I noticed you mentioned you live in a gated community. I would only add one kudo. Most gated communities are only gated to prevent street access. Some do have fencing around areas visible to main roads. BUT often, if the back up to a wooded or undeveloped area, that side is wide open.

In the event of such a situation, it is reasonable to assume people will exit the city if they can, and homeless or other undesirables would easily enter gated areas if they back up to such wooded or undeveloped areas.